Harvard Business Review Guides Ultimate Boxed Set (16 Books)

Storyboard One Idea per Slide

Filmmakers sketch out their shots before production begins to make sure they’ll hang together structurally, conceptually, and visually. Good presenters use a similar planning process before they sweat over their slides.

Sure, you’re not Steven Spielberg, but don’t be intimidated. Basic storyboarding isn’t hard, and it saves you more time than it takes.

When you’re storyboarding a presentation:

• Keep it simple: Draw small visual representations of your ideas on 1.5″ × 2″ sticky notes (see figure 5-6). Constraining your ideas to a small sketch space forces you to use simple, clear words and pictures as proof of concept before creating slides in presentation software. Don’t be embarrassed by rudimentary sketches. This ...